Improvement in rufflers for sewing-machines



' 2 Sheets--Shee1 I.

w. H. LEWITT'. Ruiflers fur Sewing-Machines. No. 140,285.

Patented June 24,1873.

HWTURZ WITNESSES I 90w 49m WzZm-M 2Sheets--Sheet2 W. H. LEWITT. Ruiflersfor Sewing-Machines. No. 140,235, Patentedlune24,l873.

'WITNES 3 ES: s wgaw UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM H. LEWITT, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF HISRIGHT TO THOMAS M. OOOHRANE, OF SAME PLACE.

IMPROVEMENT IN RUFFLERS FOR SEWING-MACHINES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 140,285, dated June 24,1873; application filed October 5, 1872.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, WILLIAM H. LEWITT, of St.Louis, in the county of St. Louis and State of Missouri, have invented acertain Improvement in Rufflin g Attachments for Sewing-Machines, ofwhich the following is a specification My improvement relates to arufliing attachment, which consists of two portions, one of which isattached to the presser-foot and rises and falls therewith. The otherportion is wholly disconnected from the upper works of the machine, andis attached to the common shuttle-race cover. This latter portion isactuated by the shuttledriver slide.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of my improvement. Fig. 2 is a side viewof the front shuttle-race cover and the parts attached thereto; and Fig.3 is a top view of the same. Fig. 4 is a side view of the gather-catchand shoe; and Figs. 5 and 6 are, respectively, a top and a bottom viewof the same. Fig. 7 is a perspective view of a modification, in whichthe gather-catch instead of being connected to the presser-foot isattached to the free end of a spring-bar, whose other end is attached tothe cloth-plate of the machine, the end of the bar being depressed bythe presser-foot and rising by the elasticity of the bar.

A is the cloth-plate. B is the front shuttlerace cover, on whose upperside is a sliding plate, 0, having two slots, 0, to receive screws D, bywhich the plate is guided and held in position. Attached to the slidingplate 0 is a spring plate or gatherer, E, whose forward end ispreferably serrated to enable its engagement and firm hold of the fabricto be gathered. e is a notch or recess in the end of the gatherer E, toallow the passage of the needle f when the gatherer is in its forwardposition. The sliding plate 0 receives motion, from the shuttle-driverslide-G, through a lever, H, havin g its fulcrum at h, on thecover-plate B, and working in a slot, b, in the same plate. The upperend of the lever H has a slot, I, to receive a pin, 6, extending fromthe edge of the sliding plate 0, and furnishing the means by which thelever acts on the plate. The lower end 9 of the lever is in the courseof the shuttle-driver slide G, and at every movement of the slide towardthe operator the end g of the lever is carried with it, and the slidingplate 0 carried in an opposite direction. On the return of the slide G,the spring K acts on the lever, and restores it to the position shownclearly in Fig. 2, thereby retracting the gatherer E, which by themovement caused by the shuttle-driver slide had been advanced beneaththe presser-foot. When the gatherer E is thrust forward it gathers theedge of the ruffle-strip, and as it is retracted the gather is retainedby the spring-catch L, which is attached to the bottom of thepresser-foot L by the shoe M. This shoe has an aperture, m, for thepassage of the needle, and the spring gather-catch a recess, 1, for thesame purpose. 0 is the ordinary feed-plate of the machine. P is acompound guide, which is attached to the plate G, and has a folder forthe under piece of cloth, and a guide for the ruffle-strip and upperpiece of cloth.

' The size of the gathers is regulated by limiting the retrogrademovement of the sliding plate 0, and this is done by means of alevercam, R, which is pivoted on a thumb-screw, r, by which it is heldto any desired position. The sliding plate 0 is carried forward (fromthe operator) with each backward movement of the shuttle-driver slide G,to a certain point, and when released the sliding plate is drawnbackward (by the spring K) until its heel reaches the regulating-cam R,by which the stroke is limited. S is a small screw, which fills marginalscrew'threaded recesses s in the edges of the cover-plate B andcloth-plate A, to hold the former in position.

With the use of my ruffler, a ruffle can be inserted at any desireddistance from the edge of the goods, because there is no part connectingthe presser-foot with the cloth-plate or feed devices, so that aquantity of the goods may pass beneath the needle-lever and arm withoutimpediment. When sewing aruffle onto single cloth the ruffle-strip ispassed through one of the folds of the guide P and above the gatherer,and the cloth to which the ruffleis to be attached passed beneath thepresser-foot and under the ruffle-strip, and the strip is gathered bythe gatherer, while the cloth remains unrufliied. When the ruffle isattached at a distance from the edge ot the goods the guide P is notused for such goods; but a separate gage may be used for the edge of thecloth, as shown in Fig. 7. In the modification shown in Fig. 7, thegather-catch L is attached to the end of a spring-bar, M, secured to thecloth-plate at the other end. The catch is depressed by thepresser-foot, and raised,when the pressure of the foot is removed, bythe elasticity of the spring-bar.

Ihave shown my attachment as applied to the Howe sewing-machine; but itis adapted to shuttle machines in general, and may by slightmodification be arranged for other classes of machines.

I claim as new and of my invention- 1. The gatherer E, sliding plate 0,lever H, and shuttle-driver slide G, arranged and operating as and forthe purpose specified.

2. The gatherer E, sliding plate 0, lever H, and spring K, when arrangedand operated by the shuttle-driver slide G, as described.

3. The combination of the spring-catch L attached to the presser-footand the gatherer E, when secured to the cloth-plate and operated frombeneath, as and for the purposes set forth.

4. The combination of the spring-catch I, gatherer E, sliding plate 0,lever H, driverslide Gr, spring K, and cover-plate B, all arrangedsubstantially as and for the purposes described.

WILLIAM H. LEWITT.

Witnesses:

SAML. KNIGHT, JOHN C. WATKINS.

